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New Texas Senate Bill Seeks to Slash Bitcoin Mining Incentives – Decrypt

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Danzig

Texas-based Bitcoin mining companies may soon be without the financial incentives that have let the industry gain a strong competitive advantage in the Lone Star State.

Introduced earlier this month, Senate Bill 1751 seeks to protect the states electric grid during peak loads, with one proposed measure being the utility-scale.

A key provision of the bill is that it would restrict Bitcoin mining companies from participating in a state-run demand response program. This program rewards miners for giving power back to the grid when demand threatens to overwhelm the system unless the anticipated demand for electricity is less than 10 percent of the total load required by all loads in the program, the bill reads.

The bill would also bar "virtual currency mining from tax abatements given that the large scale of growth in virtual currency mining is already projected to occur in the state, said the bills sponsor Senator Lois Kolkhorst during Tuesday's testimony, adding that theres no need to subsidize that growth.

The Texas senator insisted that the bill is not a punitive one, but rather rightsizes for the industry that doesnt need that kind of assistance.

Sharing portions of his speech made during the same testimony with Decrypt, U.S. Blockchain Corp.'s chief commercial officer Matt Prusak said that his firm understands "that the goal of SB1751 is to ensure the responsible growth of the bitcoin mining industry in Texas. While we share this goal, we believe that the current proposal may have unintended consequences that could negatively impact both the mining sector and the broader energy market."

Riot Blockchain, one of the largest Texas-based Bitcoin mining companies that recently rebranded to Riot Platforms, has been a large beneficiary of the current incentives in Texas. Last Summer, it earned as much as $9.5 million in power credits after suspending operations during the heatwave.

Riots Rockdale Bitcoin mining facility, which is believed to be one of the largest in North America, has a total power capacity of 750 MW. The firm has also kicked off development for a large-scale 1 gigawatt (GW) development to expand its Bitcoin mining and hosting capabilities in Navarro County, with the initial 400 MW of capacity expected to begin in July 2023.

According to a recent Reuters report citing the Texas Blockchain Council president Lee Bratcher, Texas-based Bitcoin miners currently consume about 2,100 megawatts of the state's power supplies, up 75% over the last year.

Moreover, the latest power usage metric was almost triple that of the prior year, said Bratcher.

Data by ERCOT also shows that the Texas Bitcoin mining industrys power demand accounts for nearly 3.7% of the states lowest forecast peak load this year.

Those opposing the bill and taking part in the testimony included the Texas Blockchain Council president Lee Bratcher and the organizations director of Business Development Kristine Cranley, as well as Riots VP Pierre Rochard.

Bitcoin mining is uniquely capable of addressing the needs of the grid, unlike any other industry, because it is able to shut off in an instant and then come back relatively quickly, said Cranley.

Lee Bratcher stressed that the Bitcoin mining industry in Texas directly employs about 2,000 people across the state and another 20,000 people for indirect jobs, while also working closely with the ERCOT to ensure that miners are interconnecting responsibly.

Pierre Rochard also addressed the matter of cutting tax abatements for the industry, noting that these abatements have created hundreds of rural jobs.

U.S. Bitcoin Corp.'s Prusak told Decrypt that his firm "is committed to responsible growth and cooperation with regulators to ensure a sustainable future for both the bitcoin mining industry and Texas' energy infrastructure."

According to Rochard, Riot is currently the number one employer and the number one taxpayer in Rockdale.

Decrypt has reached out for comments to Riot Platforms and the Texas Blockchain Council and will update the article should we hear back.

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New Texas Senate Bill Seeks to Slash Bitcoin Mining Incentives - Decrypt

Breakingviews – Bitcoin is a solution looking for a problem – Reuters.com

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Danzig

NEW YORK, March 24 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Almost one year ago, billionaire Peter Thiel threw $100 bills into the crowd from the stage at a cryptocurrency conference in Miami, likening fiat currency to toilet paper and touting bitcoin as the best alternative. Thiel has said that central banks are "bankrupt" and that the fiat money regime is coming to an end. Since his Miami proclamations, bitcoins price has fallen by nearly 40%, though in the last few weeks after Silicon Valley Banks failure it has had a resurgence. That suggests people think that Thiel is onto something. Those following his advice are sorely misled.

Thiels venture capital fund quietly dumped almost all its own holdings shortly before that Miami speech, according to the Financial Times. But others are buying. Former Andreessen Horowitz investor Balaji Srinivasan made a bet with a pseudonymous Twitter user last week that bitcoin would reach $1 million in the next three months while hyperinflation takes hold. At first glance, his prediction seems wildly optimistic but directionally reasonable bitcoin has surged by over 35% since SVBs collapse on March 10. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) and gold both rose less than 10%.

The philosophy behind that surge is that cryptocurrency will replace government-backed dollars. The trouble is bitcoin has benefitted precisely because of actions taken by central banks. The Federal Reserve, by the faith and good standing of the U.S. government, has stepped up to stabilize the system with new programs. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has also tempered his comments about plans to raise rates. Whats more, bitcoin may never have surpassed $60,000 to reach its highest-ever price level in 2021 had the Fed not kept interest rates consistently low. Its the prospect of lower rates not the lack of government stability that is opening the door to riskier bets like those on bitcoin.

The second snag is that contrary to Srinivasan and Thiels claims, bitcoin is too volatile to protect investors against inflation by preserving its purchasing power over long periods of time. U.S. inflation continues to spike even as the Fed raises rates. Gold is a tangible asset, unlike bitcoin, and thats precisely what makes it an inflation hedge. In theory, as the price for goods goes up, gold follows. If investors hope to inoculate their portfolios against a weakening dollar, they should heed Thiels actions, not his words.

Follow @AnitaRamaswamy on Twitter

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.)

CONTEXT NEWS

Bitcoins price has appreciated by over 35% since Silicon Valley Bank collapsed on March 10, while the Nasdaq Composite Index has traded up less than 5% over the same period, according to data from Refinitiv. Bitcoins price is up nearly 70% in 2023.

Editing by Lauren Silva Laughlin and Sharon Lam

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

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Breakingviews - Bitcoin is a solution looking for a problem - Reuters.com

Bitcoin SV is now listed on Transak.com – CoinGeek

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Danzig

ZUG, Switzerland, March 30, 2023:Bitcoin Association for BSV is pleased to announce thatBitcoin SV (BSV) tokenis now available to trade onTransak, a leading global digital currency platform. The listing of BSV on Transak will provide users with easy access to the digital assets, enabling them to buy, store and sell BSV on a platform known for its convenience, security, and reliability in several major regions worldwide.

Transak is a U.K.-based developer integration service for web3 apps to support fiat-to-crypto deposits and withdrawals. It streamlines buying and selling digital assets, allowing mainstream users and businesses to access blockchain tokens. With its focus on providing a seamless user experience, Transak is available across 160 cryptocurrencies on 75+ blockchains via cards, bank transfers and other payment methods in 150 countries.

BSVs listing on Transak comes when more businesses and individuals embrace digital currencies for payment and investment. The new listing is a clear indication of BSVs continued growth. Designed to be more scalable and efficient, BSV is known for its fast-processing times and low transaction fees, making it an attractive option for businesses and individuals looking for a reliable and affordable payment system. BSV is well-positioned to become a leading player in the digital currency space.

Shawn Ryan, Director of Corporate Relationships Exchanges, Wallets, for the Bitcoin Association for BSV,said, We are thrilled to partner with Transak and to see BSV listed on their platform. This new listing provides more opportunities for BSV users to access and transact with digital currencies easily. We believe this will strengthen BSVs position in the digital currency market and reinforce our commitment to providing our users with a reliable and efficient payment system.

About Bitcoin Association for BSV

Bitcoin Association is a non-profit association (Verein) in Switzerland and the global industry organisation which advances Bitcoin SV (BSV). It brings together enterprises, start-up ventures, developers, merchants, exchanges, service providers, blockchain transaction processors (miners), and others in the Bitcoin SV ecosystem. The Association supports Bitcoin SV as the original Bitcoin, with a stable protocol and massive scaling roadmap to becoming the worlds new money and global blockchain for enterprise. The organisation seeks to build a regulation-friendly ecosystem that fosters lawful conduct while encouraging digital currency and blockchain innovation.

Lightning Sharks, on behalf of Bitcoin Association for BSV

Haris Khan, [emailprotected]. +44 (0) 7503 581 563

New to Bitcoin? Check out CoinGeeksBitcoin for Beginnerssection, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about Bitcoinas originally envisioned by Satoshi Nakamotoand blockchain.

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Bitcoin SV is now listed on Transak.com - CoinGeek

Alt season vs Bitcoin price beyond $30,000, here is what can happen in Q2 2023 – FXStreet

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Danzig

Over the last few months, Bitcoin price has emerged as one of the best-performing assets in the entire crypto market, leaving behind Ethereum, other altcoins and even meme coins. The rally registered on the charts is making investors susceptible as to whether BTC will continue rising or if this is the end of the line.

Bitcoin price trading at $27,800 is very close to pushing beyond the $30,000 mark. The growth observed in the first quarter of the year neutralized the possibility of altcoins taking over the market. And if the same is observed over the next quarter, an alt season may have to wait longer.

An alt season is the period of time when altcoins perform and return better than Bitcoin does. Usually, an alt season occurs when the top 50 cryptocurrencies have better growth than Bitcoin in a 90-day period. Generally, an alt season comes after the biggest cryptocurrency in the world rallies as the capital gained in this period flows into altcoins.

Alt Season indicator

However, looking at the indicators, this may not be the case for now. This is because two of the most important cohorts of investors are favoring Bitcoin price rise at the moment. Bitcoin large wallet holders and institutional investors have been stacking up and investing in BTC over the last few weeks, lifting expectations of a rally.

Bitcoin whale holdings

The addresses holding 10 to 10,000 BTC have been growing over Q1, with some decline observed in the addresses holding 1,000 to 10,000 BTC.

Furthermore, institutional investors have also redirected their funds over the last week, with Bitcoin receiving the larger chunk of them. The week ending March 24 observed $127.5 million flowing into BTC, the highest since July 2022.

Bitcoin institutional inflows

Hence, the market is still in a Bitcoin season and will continue unless BTC fails to breach the critical resistance at $28,567, which has been the case for two weeks now. Flipping it into support would push Bitcoin price towards reclaiming $30,000.

BTC/USD 1-day chart

However, failing a breach would bring the price back down to the critical support level of $24,943. Losing it would lead to Bitcoin price touching the lows of $22,000 to $20,000.

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Alt season vs Bitcoin price beyond $30,000, here is what can happen in Q2 2023 - FXStreet

SEC Takes Action Against Crypto Trading Platform Beaxy and Its … – Bitcoin News

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Danzig

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against crypto trading platform Beaxy and its executives. Additionally, the regulator alleged that the cryptocurrency exchanges founder raised $8 million in an unregistered crypto token offering and misappropriated at least $900,000 for personal use, including gambling.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Wednesday that it has filed charges against crypto asset trading platform Beaxy, its founder, and its executives. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler commented:

We allege that Beaxy and its affiliates performed the functions of an exchange, broker, clearing agency, and dealer without registering with the Commission and complying with clear, time-tested rules governing those activities.

Besides alleging that Beaxy and its executives failed to register as a national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency, the securities watchdog said that it has charged the founder of the platform, Artak Hamazaspyan, and a company he controlled, Beaxy Digital Ltd., with raising $8 million in an unregistered offering of the Beaxy token (BXY).

The SEC alleged that Hamazaspyan misappropriated at least $900,000 for personal use, including gambling. The regulator also charged market makers operating on the Beaxy Platform as unregistered dealers.

In its complaint, the SEC claimed that Nicholas Murphy and Randolph Bay Abbot have been operating the Beaxy Platform since October 2019 through their management of Windy Inc. The SEC noted that the pair convinced Hamazaspyan to resign following the BXY offering.

Following the SEC enforcement action, Beaxy announced on its website: Regrettably, we are announcing the immediate suspension of services on Beaxy Exchange. Due to the uncertain regulatory environment surrounding our business, we have made the difficult decision to cease operations.

While emphasizing, We forthrightly committed to cooperation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for over two years, continually providing information, data, and interviews to assist regulators in whatever manner we could, the company stressed:

Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, it has become clear that the regulatory environment is just too uncertain to continue operations.

What do you think about the SEC taking action against this crypto exchange, its founder, and its executives? Let us know in the comments section below.

A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, lev radin

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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The next Bitcoin? 5 cryptocurrencies poised for massive growth in … – Finbold – Finance in Bold

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Danzig

Bitcoin (BTC) has maintained its position as the top digital asset since the inception of cryptocurrencies, achieving massive success in price growth and adoption despite phases of volatility. This success has led to other assets seeking to emulate the maiden crypto, with investors also on the lookout for the next big thing in the market.

In this regard, there are several cryptocurrencies that stand out as having strong potential for growth in the future. Therefore, here are five cryptocurrencies that could be poised for massive growth in 2023:

XRP has been gaining traction in recent weeks, and 2023 is considered one of the most monumental periods for the token on the grounds of adoption and regulatory development. The digital currency has seen a rise in adoption, with major financial institutions and banks starting to use the Ripple network for cross-border payments.

Meanwhile, the ongoing legal battle between Ripple and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has been touted to define the future of XRP. If the case is ruled in favor of Ripple, the move is expected to be bullish for the token.

By press time, XRP was trading at $0.48, continuing its weeklong gains. On the daily chart, XRP is up over 3%, while the token is up almost 25% in the last seven days.

Cardano (ADA) is positioning itself as an ecosystem for the future, aiming to establish itself in the decentralized finance (DeFi) world and take on entities such as Ethereum (ETH). In this line, the asset has witnessed increased on-chain development that is projected to impact the price of ADA positively.

The significance of the development is highlighted by the number of GitHub activities involving Cardano. For instance, as of March 2, Cardano ranked as the second cryptocurrency with the highest development activity on GitHub. At the same time, launching the Djed stablecoin on the network is considered a bullish element for Cardano. ADA is changing hands at $0.35 with daily losses of about 2%.

GRT is among the cryptocurrencies benefiting from the hype around artificial intelligence following the initial success of the chat-based tool ChatGPT. The interest has seen cryptocurrencies centered around the technology benefiting immensely with projections of continued gains as AI technology becomes engraved in daily life.

Besides building on the AI hype, GRT, which ranks among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap, also offers a new approach to organizing and accessing blockchain data and can be leveraged for staking, payments, and earning fees for depositing it into a bonding curve and delegating to indexers.

The Graph network is also aiming to benefit from strategic partnerships such as the one established with Polygon (MATIC). Under the collaboration, The Graph integrated with Polygons ecosystem and selected it as the foundation for a new billing system.

The Graph is trading at $0.14 with weekly losses of about 10%.

Decentraland (MANA) is among the metaverse cryptocurrencies that gained momentum at the start of 2023, with investors showing a keen interest in these assets. Indeed, metaverse cryptos are unique in that they are coupled with decentralized blockchain virtual realities, where users can shape the environment and control how things are done. This feature is highly attractive to investors, as it allows them to participate in a virtual world that is user-driven, with decentralized governance and control.

As the metaverse scene evolves, MANA, as a pioneer digital asset in the space, is positioned to gain having unique attributes such as an existing virtual community. This capability gives Decentraland an advantage over other digital companies seeking to benefit from the virtual world.

Currently, MANA is trading at $0.58, having lost its value by over 2% in the last 24 hours. On the weekly chart, MANA is down 7%, with a market capitalization of $1.07 billion.

The meme cryptocurrency has gained investor interest despite the initial criticism of lacking utility. SHIBs potential lies in the fact that the community has rolled out initiatives aiming to make the token compete with established assets. One approach the Shiba Inu developers undertake is accelerating token burning and upgrading the network with a layer-2 scaling solution dubbed Shibarium, touted as a game-changer.

Shibariums innovative layer-2 solution has the potential to transform transaction processing by making it faster and more cost-effective. Once released, Shibarium is viewed to be a significant achievement for the Shiba Inu community and the broader cryptocurrency industry.

By press time, SHIB was trading at $0.00001072 with daily gains of over 1%.

Overall, the ability of the highlighted cryptocurrencies depends on other external factors, such as the general market movement and elements like regulations.

Disclaimer:The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.

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The next Bitcoin? 5 cryptocurrencies poised for massive growth in ... - Finbold - Finance in Bold

Over 1,200 German banks can now offer Bitcoin trading to their retail … – Finbold – Finance in Bold

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Danzig

Deutsche WertpapierService Bank AG (dwpbank), a German securities processing giant that manages over 5.3 million securities accounts, has announced the launch of its new platform, wpNex, that enables over 1,200 affiliated banks to offer Bitcoin (BTC) trading to its retail customers.

According to the press release published on March 22, via the wpNex platform, crypto trading can be seamlessly integrated into the customers online banking experience. Customers can see their cryptocurrency holdings alongside their traditional securities, with no pre-funding necessary, Btc-echo.de reported.

Financial planning advisory corporation MLP Banking AG has taken advantage of the opportunity to become the first to offer crypto trading to its customers. Paul Utzat, MLP Bankings Head of Account and Securities Settlement, said that the service will be available to all retail customers in the second half of this year.

Furthermore, DZ Bank plans to offer a Bitcoin option for its customers by the end of the year, which can be seen as a solid step for Bitcoin establishment in Germany as this institution is the second largest bank in Germany by asset size with around 8,500 branch offices in the country.

In a tweet on March 24, Patrick Hansen, EU Strategy and Policy Director at Circle, a crypto-focused company behind the USDC stablecoin, noted that the move is great news for Bitcoins adoption.

As per the announcement, with the wpNex platform, dwpbank is setting the stage for Germany to become a major player in the world of crypto. The company has also clarified that other digital assets like tokenized securities will be added in the near future.

Dwpbanks move will potentially put pressure on other German banks and financial institutions to meet the growing demand for convenient access to crypto trading and investing.

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Over 1,200 German banks can now offer Bitcoin trading to their retail ... - Finbold - Finance in Bold

DCeased: War of The Undead Gods #7 review – Batman-News

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Danzig

The penultimate chapter of DCeased: War of the Undead Gods has begun! Every story thread spun from the beginning finally leads into a big conflict. As Darkseid and the forces of Anti-living reach Earth-2, the good guys make their desperate last stand.

After Alfred Pennyworth made the choice to kill the final members of his family, repeating the mistake has become his greatest fear. When the Anti-living infect Damian and Leslie, facing the fear seems unavoidable. Especially since earths heroes seem to be dying left and right. Fortunately, Alfred now has the power he needs to avoid the same outcome. However, the power of the Spectre comes with bigger responsibilities to interests outside of his own. As a result, the Spectre leaves the people he loves high and dry to attend to the bigger picture. Rather, Alfred is literally used to drag out a major deus ex machina.

Superman leaves the earth for his own reasons as well. Honestly, I cant blame Jon Kent for thinking War World targeting the earth looks like a job for Superman. Albeit, its hard to know exactly how mindless the Anti-living are. The conceit is that War World itself is one of the Anti-living, and not equivalent to zombies piloting the Death Star from Star Wars. I know Jon leaves for the sake of the others, but it felt like the Spectre already hit the same beat. Regardless, Jons hero moment feels like a full circle but somewhat generic sacrifice.

Consequently, Cyborg has the most significant full circle moment in the entire series. In the original run of DCeased, Cyborg was the first person to succumb to Anti-life. After Brainiac fails to make his move on Darkseid and War World, Cyborg gets a unique opportunity to settle the score. Moreover, while his tech was once his biggest vulnerability in the beginning, it becomes a key redeeming asset in the end. As far as arcs go, Cyborgs retribution feels the most complete.

Finally, the least effective thread involves Mr. Miracle and his family. When Undead Gods began, Scott Free and Big Barda were reasonably fearful for their sons safety. During the battle with the Anti-living, Scott and Barda finally learn their sons fate as another mindless assailant. Unfortunately, instead of fighting their loved one, they tragically let him tear them apart. Part of me understands the perspective of a parent not wanting to harm their child, but I also wonder how an escape artist couldnt figure a way out of this scenario altogether. At the very least, readers could walk away wondering if this was an example of love enduring, but even if that were true, it didnt add very much to the conversation.

The story features several personal narrative let downs. One in particular involves the use of Kara Zor-El. She is noticeably absent, despite having a huge introduction in the first issue. Furthermore, what makes it worse is the use of her home of Kandor and the other Kryptonians without involving her. Secondly, Tom Taylor places Lobo in the conflict to be a major savior, but with less contribution than I was led to believe. Lobos immunity made him an extremely valuable ally, but what he does with Darkseid doesnt take advantage of any of the set up.

Trevor Hairsines art has not improved in the least. It still has distorted inconsistencies in the facial renders, generally unpleasant renders, and sparse underdrawn backgrounds. However, I have been taking note of various examples of effective visual communication wherever I can. For instance, the battle information and set pieces are readable. Admittedly, it is sort of like having creative scenes in a film with terrible blocking and CGI.

War of the Undead Gods operates like a cheap action horror. It truly believes its big and gory action scenes are enough to supplement the flaws in the storytelling. While I find Alfred and Cyborgs story arcs to be among its strengths, Undead Gods cannot put the hope back into this story. Additionally, the book is ugly, depressing, and wildly superficial at times. Yes, the zombie story has overplayed its hand, overstayed its welcome, and is difficult to enjoy. If this issue is any indication, the final conflict with Erebos will no doubt be a horrific battle that wont mean anything at all. One can only hope to be proven wrong.

Score: 5/10

DISCLAIMER:DC Comics provided Batman News with a copy of this comic for the purposes of this review.

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DCeased: War of The Undead Gods #7 review - Batman-News

The Mandalorian Fans Are Glad Not Knowing What The Heck That … – Looper

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Danzig

There's presently no in-canon explanation for what the monster is. If you venture toward the "Star Wars"Wiki page for the creature, it simply outlines its role in "The Mandalorian" episode, such as how it kidnaps Din and harvests his blood. Why did it attack Din?What did it want with his blood?We don't know the answers to those questions, and fans prefer it that way.

Redditor u/Captaincomet26 likes how audiences aren't hand-fed every single thing, writing, "It's like in a new hope with stuff like the [Kessel] Run or The Clone Wars, just off handed comments that make your imagination wonder what other things are out there." Of course, those things did receive official explanations down the road, but many are hoping this creature remains a mystery. There's also u/HYDRAlives who compared the addition favorably to other franchises:"That's a big issue with Star Wars or like Marvel Comics, it's all very over-explained and it feels very small and contained, compared to something like LOTR or Dune where there's a lot out there that is just ... mentioned but very vague."

The unknown didn't stop some Redditors from crafting their own theories, like u/JenDomOrc, who wrote, "Out of pure speculation, I am guessing those eyes belonged to dead Mandalorians and/or dead Alamites that have perhaps been experimented on/zombified and radically changed by these super intelligent cyborgs?" We likely aren't done with Mandalore on this series, so it's entirely possible the creature will return and receive more backstory. But perhaps "Star Wars"could learn from these comments and leave certain aspects of this universe to the fans' imaginations.

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The Mandalorian Fans Are Glad Not Knowing What The Heck That ... - Looper

On to state: Sonic Cyborgs prepare for robotics championship – The Republic

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Danzig

Mike Wolanin | The Republic Dawson Payne, a member of Smith Elementarys Vex IQ Robotics team, works on the teams robot at Smith Elementary in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, March 2, 2023.

Local elementary schools students are headed to a state robotics competition, despite this being their rookie season.

The Sonic Cyborgs from Smith Elementary will compete at the Indiana State Robotics Championship for Vex Robotics teams at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday. The Cyborgs, which are in their first year, compete at the VEX IQ Elementary level. The team is made up of fourth, fifth and sixth graders.

The kids have given a lot of time and a lot of effort and energy, said Lisa Haines, a STEM teacher at Smith and one of the teams coaches.

Im very surprised how well this seasons gone, said lead coach Kyle Weidner. The kids have just done an amazing job, considering at the beginning of the season, we didnt really know anything, with it being our first year. And theyve learned a lot, and Ive learned a lot as well.

This years VEX IQ Competition game is called Slapshot. Points are scored by getting robots to unload discs from dispensers, launch these discs across the field and stretch across fences to touch contact zones.

Two robots compete in the Teamwork Challenge as an alliance in 60 second long teamwork matches, working collaboratively to score points, the rules state. Teams also compete in the Robot Skills Challenge where one robot takes the field to score as many points as possible. These matches consist of Driving Skills Matches, which will be entirely driver controlled, and Programming Skills Matches, which will be autonomous with limited human interaction.

According to TechPoint Foundation for Youth, which hosts the state championship, 130 Vex IQ Elementary teams will compete at state, and 84 will be awarded invitations to the world championship. There will be 71 of the world qualifiers determined based on 47 performance awards and 24 judged awards. An additional 13 teams will be selected based on their skill standings.

I feel good about it, said fifth grader Dawson Payne, who is one of the teams co-captains. I think we could maybe go to world.

Haines said that the Cyborgs could be one of the teams invited to the world championship if students keep up the good work, but even just going to state on their first year is huge.

She also said that she appreciates the collaborative nature of VEX and the values it imparts to students.

I liked the idea of them having to work with other teams and other people that youve just recently just met or encountered at an event and trying to problem-solve and come up with strategies and plans, she said. Its a very different kind of competition. I wouldnt even call it a competition as much as a collaboration.

When asked what she likes best about being on the team, sixth grader and co-captain Hannah Weidner replied, I like inspiring people and helping them out on the team.

She expressed both nervousness and excitement about the upcoming championship.

Haines said that shes glad that students will get to compete at a major venue like the Indianapolis stadium and get the recognition they deserve.

I want them to feel like the rock stars that they really are, she said.

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On to state: Sonic Cyborgs prepare for robotics championship - The Republic

What do ‘Shazam 2’ post credit scenes depict? Know everything here – The Economic Times

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Danzig

'Shazam 2: Fury of the Gods' comes as a sequel to 2019 film, Shazam!, and serves as the 12th entry in the DC Extended Universe. The plot revolves around Billy Batson, a teenager who is chosen by an ancient wizard to become the new champion by uttering the word "Shazam." This transforms Billy into an adult superhero endowed with super strength, flight, lightning-bolt shooting capabilities, and other extraordinary powers. At the conclusion of Shazam!, Billy also grants his adopted siblings - Freddy, Mary, Eugene, Pedro, and Darla - superpowers. The wizard is portrayed by Djimon Hounsou. Asher Angel plays the young Billy/Shazam, while Zachary Levi portrays the older version of the character.'Shazam 2: Fury of the Gods' post-credit scenesPost credit scenes are quite common in today's superhero movies. There are two post-credit scenes in Shazam 2: Fury of Gods, one in the middle and one at the end, both of which offer glimpses into future Shazam movies and the direction of the DC Extended Universe. As genuine post-credit scenes, it is highly recommended to stay in the theater to catch them.The first post-credit scene in Shazam 2 features Emilia Harcourt and John Economos approaching Billy Batson/Shazam in a remote location, inviting him to join the Justice Society of America. Billy is confused about the difference between the Justice Society and the Justice League, and ultimately agrees to join the former. The Justice Society is a group of superheroes that appeared in the 2022 film Black Adam, while the Justice League is a group that appeared in the 2017 film Justice League, featuring heroes such as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg.

The second post-credit scene in Shazam 2 features Doctor Thaddeus Sivana, the villain from the previous movie, in his prison cell. He hears laughter and realizes that it's coming from Mister Mind, an alien worm who visited him in the previous movie. Mister Mind tells Sivana that to execute the perfect plan, one must have patience. Sivana is frustrated that it has been two years since they last spoke and demands to know what Mister Mind has been up to. Mister Mind explains that it takes him a long time to get places because he can only slither around, and he has one more thing to do before he can share the plan with Sivana. Sivana is left exasperated as Mister Mind slithers away, but viewers know that Mister Mind is one of Shazam's main enemies and leads the Monster Society of Evil, a supervillain group that has included Black Adam.

When did Shazam 2 come out?March 17, 2023

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What do 'Shazam 2' post credit scenes depict? Know everything here - The Economic Times

Meet the Rick Owens collaborator backsliding into the primordial soup – Dazed

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Danzig

He deserves the world, says Constantine Kaloutas, a half-human, half-fan-throated lizard otherwise known as nthromorph. In 2021, the artist received a notification that Rick Owens had donated 5,000 to a GoFundMe account she had created to help subsidise the costs of facial feminisation surgery. He was one of my biggest donors and then he reached out for a photoshoot working together was amazing. Despite never having met before, the duo approach fashion (be it traditional clothing or SFX) as a way to re-think and transgress the human body. Its about liberating people from their fleshy confines and providing them with a vessel for transhuman change.Or, as nthromorph puts it, exploring post-human identity and redefining the binaries of human versus non-human, technology versus nature, and male versus female.

An initial fascination with that vile, membranous prison the human skin led Kaloutas into prop-making, and then into sculpture, and then into costume design, which shed use for online performance art. I like humanising weird, earthling bodies and introducing them to my audience, she says. Inspired by pre-historic life forms, her creations look like the rogue experiments of a mad scientist gone wrong: glutinous amphibians and cross-bred creatures that are neither alien, mammal, nor reptile. Seldom are there eye sockets or breathing holes, but there are plenty of exposed brains and Jurassic tails and cluttered fangs.

But Koulatas mutants are also coy and vulnerable, photographed in kittenish poses on the edge of a lagoon or hidden within wooded thickets. Its like a form of art therapy which helps me deal with gender dysphoria. Its allowed me to integrate the feminine behaviours I had always been suppressing, she says. Before she had begun to medically transition, it was those silicone exoskeletons that first brought Kaloutas closer in line to herself. Every mask was an attempt to beautify my trans body and hybridise with nature. In nature, you are not queer you are just you. I found being closer to a shape-shifting animal gave me comfort. It was a gateway for me to transition and has grown and changed with me.

In this way, nthromorph the Instagram character and the IRL alter-ego chimes with what Donna Haraway was talking about when she wrote A Cyborg Manifesto in 1985. The essay described how technology had blurred the lines between the natural and the artificial and questioned how our bodies can be reborn from the blending of those boundaries. Our perception of humanness has separated us from nature, Kaloutas says. Were disconnected from the rhythms of the land and so weve turned into cancerous organisms. My work advocates for a human body thats interconnected to the earth. Just as Kaloutas has split herself into Constantine and nthromorph, she continues to atomise herself across the ether, reckoning with the limits of her own consciousness via technospiritual and cyber shamanic meme-making.

We are an extension of the whole, she adds. I dont relate to the human experience, I would like to be an animal. But we can no quicker abandon humanity than we can return to a time before phones had cameras: each and every step we take towards technological progress gets etched into stone like a palaeolithic rune. In interrogating the relationship between current tech and past mythologies, Kaloutas work imagines a world where primordial ecosystems and cyborgian futures grow and mutate amongst themselves a speculative place where humankind might be reborn and rescued from staid binaries of nature versus culture and mind versus body. I would like to experience the world through different senses and paint new images of reality, she says. I think Id like to be a shapeshifter forever.

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Meet the Rick Owens collaborator backsliding into the primordial soup - Dazed

New Titans series to change the DC Universe in a huge way – Bam! Smack! Pow!

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Danzig

Tom Taylors promise of massive DC Comics changes will help the comic book company become even better.

Tom Taylor has been a writer you could trust for years. Since he signed an exclusive deal with DC Comics he has reached new heights. His Nightwing run has been perfect from start to finish by hitting on real world issues and maintaining all the fun and action youd want from a comic book.

The biggest takeaway from Nightwing has been Dick Graysons growth. During this series, Dick has become a better hero and is doing things with his new wealth thats improved Bludhaven. Hes getting away from the old ways of thinking and making things fair and comfortable for everyone in Bludhaven. That growth was put to the test during Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths. His evolved way of thinking helped save the multiverse.

After the Crisis ended, the Justice League realized it was time for someone new to carry the torch. They asked Dick Grayson to lead a new premiere superhero team. In Nightwing No. 100, he accepted the job. Except, he wouldnt be leading the Justice League. The Titans were now in charge. According to Tom Taylor, that moment is leading to new changes in DC Comics.

In a very, as he put it, vague post, Tom Taylor says that the Titans series will be leading to massive changes in DC Comics. In an interview with Comic Book Resources(which also featured Nicola Scott), he said this about his upcoming Titans run:

This team has not happened in decades. And yet every time you think of Teen Titans, its Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire, Robin, and Cyborg. This is the group that your brain goes to. Its like theres been this promise for decades that the Titans would grow up and lead.This is the first time were properly doing that, and thats what makes it incredibly exciting.-Tom Taylor

One of the biggest things that people forget about comic books is that people change. Readers get older, mature, and want more than what they grew up reading. Its why characters that were once romantically together are separated. Or why characters change their names. In Marvel Comics, Kitty Pryde is now Kate Pryde, a small part of her evolution that helped her grow into a bigger and better character and leader.

The decision to make the Titans the superhero team in DC Comics is a brilliant move. It shows growth within DC. Of course the Justice League will be back. However, that doesnt mean they should be the go-to team. Comic book fans love the Titans. DC putting them in the forefront of their company will show readers that they arent stuck in their ways and ready for a new era. A message that will go a long way.

The first issue of Tom Taylor and Nicola Scotts Titansdebuts on May 16, 2023.

Stay tuned to Bam Smack Pow for more DC Comics news as it comes out.

What do you think will happen next? Are you excited about Titans becoming DC Comics premiere superhero team? Let us know in the comments below.

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New Titans series to change the DC Universe in a huge way - Bam! Smack! Pow!

Every hint in Boruto manga that foreshadowed chapter 79’s game-changing twist – Sportskeeda

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Danzig

Modified Mar 22, 2023 16:56 IST

The Boruto manga has been going through some intense times in the past couple of chapters, which has captivated fans. Fans were still processing the plot twist from a few chapters ago, in which Kawaki sealed Naruto and Hinata in another dimension, when an even more shocking plot twist occurred.

While Kawakis betrayal was foretold, Boruto's chapter 79 was unforeseen, as readers expected Kawaki to go into hiding. There has been a lot of debate among Boruto fans about whether there was any foreshadowing at all. Eida's hidden power seems far too contrived. Furthermore, Kishimoto's final takeover of the writing may have caused disunity in the overall story. Fans have already commented on how much more interesting the manga has become since the original mangaka returned. However, this may have reduced the likelihood of relevant foreshadowing and could explain why the major reversal of identities that took place in chapter 79 of the Boruto manga was so shocking.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers.

In the opening sequence of the Boruto manga, right after the flash forward ended, Boruto was seen saying that the series would revolve around him. He admitted that there will be a portion in which his father appears, but that it will ultimately be his story. In recent chapters, Naruto has been removed, and the junior Uzumaki is now the only character being highlighted in the narrative.

At first, it was assumed that he was speaking directly to the readers. However, now that everyone has forgotten who he is, it appears that he will need to tell his story to someone in the future in order to reveal his true identity. While it may seem like a stretch, there may have been a hint that a situation like this would arise when the young protagonist would need to clarify his identity.

In the flashforward sequence from chapter 75 of the Boruto manga, fans saw a vision of the future where Shikamadai and others were chasing someone in the woods. Mitsuki appeared next in sage mode, followed by Kawaki.

Fans initially assumed that Kawaki had done something to truly enrage Mitsuki because Mitsuki despises Kawaki. Now that the roles have been switched, everything makes sense. The flashforward is from Boruto's point of view, and in the future, Boruto is being sought after because Kawaki and his identities have been reversed.

Eida is an extremely powerful cyborg created by Amado, who implanted the cells of the Otsutsuki God Shibai in her body. This has bestowed upon her two incredible abilities. The first is the Senrigan, which allows her to see everything from her birth to the present as if she were sitting there. The second ability captivates everyone and renders them unable to harm her.

However, it was quickly established in the Boruto manga that Eida purposefully did not reveal all of her cards to Code. Making things even more complicated was Momoshiki's confusion about whether her power charm was shinjutsu. While he eventually realized what it was about, the truth was only revealed in the manga's most recent chapter. The power in question is Omnipotence, which can manipulate almost everyone's memories.

Momoshiki's prophecy also foreshadowed the epic reversal that transpired in chapter 79 of the Boruto manga. He had previously stated that the blue eyes would steal everything from Boruto. Again, it was assumed that Otsutsuki was referring to the young protagonist's blue eyes. However, it was Eida's blue eyes that took everything away from Boruto and made him an outsider in the Leaf Village.

Other incidents, such as an enemy telling Boruto that he is too forgiving and that it will cost him later, or Kawaki expressing a desire to kill the young Uzumaki, may have led to the switching of identities, but they never hinted at its possibility. It should also be noted that it was understandable that Eida would use her charm to send people after Boruto to protect Kawaki. However, the abruptness with which her true power is revealed has led some readers to believe that it is just poor writing.

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Every hint in Boruto manga that foreshadowed chapter 79's game-changing twist - Sportskeeda

Corvallis Calendar: Wednesday Evening to Friday Evening – The Corvallis Advocate

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Danzig

Wednesday, March 22

Jam Wagon.Common Fields, 545 SW 3rd St., Corvallis. 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Free. Join Common Fields on Wednesday and Thursday evenings for dinner and enjoy live music while you eat! Concerts are 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Seating is limited and first-come, first-serve. All of the concerts are family friendly. Visithttps://www.commonfieldscorvallis.com/live-music.htmlfor more info.

Persepolis.The Whiteside Theatre, 361 SW Madison Ave., Corvallis. 7 p.m. $6-$8. Visit the Whiteside Theatre for a movie night! The Whiteside hosts a movie every Wednesday at 7 p.m. Persepolis is based on Satrapis graphic novel about her life in pre and post-revolutionary Iran and then in Europe. The film traces Satrapis growth from child to rebellious, punk-loving teenager in Iran. Visithttps://www.whitesidetheatre.orgfor more info

Thursday, March 23

Preschool Storytime.Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, 645 NW Monroe Ave., Corvallis. 10:30 a.m. Free. Storytime is offered year-round as a drop-in program: first come, first served. Space is limited due to the room capacity and to provide a positive, safe environment for all. Children must be accompanied by a grown-up. Many lasting friendships start at storytime! Visithttps://corvallisbenton.librarycalendar.com/event/preschool-storytime-25for more info.

BCTT Meeting #10.1:30 p.m. Benton County Talks Trash (BCTT) Solid Waste Process Work Group. Register in advance for this meeting: (New addition to the virtual meetings, and this may take a few minutes.) https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApc-qgpjkjG9T81P7AoXsoEDKTzDmo6zjR%C2%A0. Visithttps://www.co.benton.or.us/cd/page/bctt-meeting-10for more info.

Council Work Session.4 p.m. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend City Council work sessions. This work session will be held in-person and virtually. See the published agenda for work session details and participation instructions. The public may register to watch the meeting live on the internet via this link:https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9015619741665404172. Visithttps://www.corvallisoregon.gov/mc/page/council-work-session-77for more info.

Tenacious Beasts: Wildlife Recoveries That Change How We Think about Animals.Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, 645 NW Monroe Ave., Corvallis. 5:30 p.m. Free. An evening with author Christopher Preston, as he shares his new book Tenacious Beasts: Wildlife Recoveries That Change How We Think about Animals. He offers an inspiring look at how wildlife species are defying the odds and teaching important lessons about how to share a planet. Visithttps://corvallisbenton.librarycalendar.com/event/preschool-storytime-25for more info.

Brutal Bridges Band.Common Fields, 545 SW 3rd St., Corvallis. 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Free. Join Common Fields on Wednesday and Thursday evenings for dinner and enjoy live music while you eat! Concerts are 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Seating is limited and first-come, first-serve. All of the concerts are family friendly. Visithttps://www.commonfieldscorvallis.com/live-music.htmlfor more info.

Sarah Sauls Jazz Jam. Old World Center, 341 SW 2nd St., Corvallis. 7 p.m. Free. Sarah Sauls Jazz Jam every fourth Thursday at the Old World Center! Learn more atwww.OldWorldCenter.com.

Friday, March 24

Digital Life: Google Sheets.Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, 645 NW Monroe Ave., Corvallis. 10:00 a.m. Free. Learn to use spreadsheets with Google Sheets free web-based spreadsheet application. This will be a presentation, but feel free to bring your own device to practice with while you watch. Visithttps://corvallisbenton.librarycalendar.com/event/digital-life-google-sheetsfor more info.

Live + Local: DJ Edition.The Whiteside Theatre, 361 SW Madison Ave., Corvallis. 7 p.m. $10-$15. The Whiteside Theatre presents Live + Local, a concert featuring local DJs, including Eveu, Cyborg, GlowCat, Fkn Rios, and Yezi. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. The doors open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m. Visithttps://www.whitesidetheatre.orgfor more info

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Corvallis Calendar: Wednesday Evening to Friday Evening - The Corvallis Advocate

10 Villains James Gunn Could Use In His Superman Reboot | – The Nerd Stash

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Danzig

James Gunn made headlines this week by announcing his plans to direct DCs upcoming Superman: Legacy film. The recently appointed co-head of DC Studios has been working on the script for the film for a while now. This will be the first feature under Gunn and co-head Peter Safran, with the duo planning to recast Clark Kent.

While details on the film are sparse for now, we do know if will focus on a younger Clark Kent. We also know it will see the young Superman struggle with reconciling both his Krypton heritage and human upbringing. Of course, it wouldnt be a good superhero film without a wicked villain to root against. While we have seen some of Supermans iconic antagonists on the silver screen, there are tons left to show up. Here are 10 iconic comic villains James Gunn could pit against the young Man of Steel:

10: Metallo

Kryptonite has not played a large role in many of Supermans films. So, what better way to bring the Man of Steels biggest weakness into play than to introduce a villain made of one? Formerly a human criminal known as John Corben, Metallo was transformed into a cyborg with a kryptonite heart after getting hit by a truck. Zod and his soldiers used his body to regain their powers but soon discarded him. However, Corbens new body now has super strength, which he uses to kill Superman, whom he blames for his sisters death.

9: Parasite

Parasite is the name several villains have taken in the DC Universe. Each version of the villain can absorb their victims life energy, powers, and knowledge. This is done through simple physical contact. They can also drain any other form of energy to use as a power source. The most recent incarnation in the comics (Rudy Jones) also shows super strength, intelligence, agility, durability, and reflexes once a victim is absorbed. In short, Parasite is just as the name suggestsa parasite that feeds on others to survive. I can see this formidable foe causing all kinds of problems for a younger Kent. Just imagine if they were to absorb the powers of Superman.

8: Mr. Mxyzptlk

While this DC villain doesnt look like much, he is incredibly powerful. He can warp reality around him, something even Superman is not invulnerable to. In the comics, he caused quite a few issues for the Man of Steel. There have been several versions of the character throughout DC, with some as more comic relief and others as a formidable supervillain for Superman. No matter which routes the villain takes, he would make for an enjoyable adversary to Clark Kent. Especially with James Gunn at the helm, as this character feels like something out of Guardians of the Galaxy.

7: Mongul

Perhaps not quite as known as some of the other names on this list, Mongul is a major threat to the Man of Steel. After being exiled from his planet, the alien threat set his sights on Earth. Of course, this led to a confrontation with Superman. Armed with super strength to rival the Man of Steel, Mongul is one of DCs more cunning and sadistic villains, wiping out entire cities without a second thought. This would make the perfect villain to give Clark Kent his first taste of a world-ending threat.

6: Cyborg Superman

Henry Hank Henshaw is a former astronaut who got caught up in a solar flare. As his body deteriorates from the radiation exposure, Henshaw comes to blame Superman for his problems (a recurring theme for DCs villains). So, he travels through space to Supermans birthing matrix to create a replica of the Man of Steels body. He then augments it with cybernetic parts and returns to Earth to kill Superman. It would be fun to see Superman face off against himself and would fit the theme of Kents struggles with his alien and human lives.

5: Bizarro

Probably one of Supermans most iconic villains, Bizarro has been a thorn in Clark Kents side for a long time. While he is sometimes viewed as a joke, you know, with the whole speaking in opposites and having the opposite of Supermans powers, he is a formidable foe. He is dangerous because he has the potential to do all the things Superman would never do with his powers. In the hands of James Gunn, a slightly comedic villain could be an excellent thing for Superman: Legacy.

4: Toyman

Another seemingly goofy character, Toyman, has proved himself a deadly foe in the DC Universe. As the name suggests, this villain uses toy-based devices to commit crimes. However, he is not just creating bears and trains. Toyman builds complex machines to rival even Supermans endurance, like robotic doppelgangers. He would be a great villain to test a fresh Supermans patience.

3: Solomon Grundy

While not necessarily a Superman-only villain, he would still make a great antagonist for Superman: Legacy. The reanimated corpse of Cyrus Gold has strength that rivals Supermans. Oh, and he is impossible to kill since he is, you know, already dead. Superman would need to think outside the box to stop Grundy, making him a great villain for the film.

2: Brainiac

Technically, Brainiac did appear in another of James Gunns DC films, The Suicide Squad. While Peter Capaldi did an excellent job with the material, the ensemble movie didnt leave much room to flesh out individual characters. With Brainiac being one of the top villains Superman has ever faced, it would be a shame not to see him show up again. Brainiac is one of the most intelligent beings in the universe who collects knowledge and cities to keep on his ship. He has proven formidable to Clark Kent in the comics and would be a wonderful and fan-pleasing villain for Gunns Superman: Legacy.

1: Darkseid

Who better to give Superman a run for his money than one of the most powerful beings in the universe? Darkseid has one main goal; to enslave all the multiverse and eliminate all hope and free will. While he may be a bit large for a new Superman to face off against alone, an end-credit scene could establish him as the new DCUs big bad.

Who do you think is going to show up and cause havoc as a villain for James Gunns Man of Steel?

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10 Villains James Gunn Could Use In His Superman Reboot | - The Nerd Stash

The workplace robots of New Zealand, ranked and reviewed – The Spinoff

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Danzig

Tara Ward ranks the working robots of Aotearoa from least to most terrifying.

All week on The Spinoff we are delving into our relationship with the world of work in Aotearoa. For more Work Week stories,click here.

In news that will make your emotional hard drive melt down completely, robots are coming for our jobs. Apparently theres no need to freak out, but it seems digital human robots will become the workplace norm in the next decade. Theyre already solving staffing shortages and changing the way we shop, while also making our lives better, freeing us to do other tasks, or take on work thats repetitive or high risk. Robots could be the ideal colleagues, given they rarely complain and probably wont eat your carefully labelled lunch in the communal staff fridge.

On the other hand, robots have also been known to go rogue at work and kill people, while others report being traumatised by their Roomba. Until the day comes when were all chased through the staff room by a gaggle of Daleks, we thought wed put these futuristic fiends in their place the best we know how: by ranking them in order of least to most terrifying. Sadly, a robot did not write with this list so it is filled with faults, and no further communication will be entered into.

This might look like a soft toy, but Guinness World Records ruled Paro to be the most therapeutic robot in the world. Designed to reduce stress and improve motivation in patients, Paro knows when hes being stroked and held, and can recognise words, voices and praise. Paro has already had a meaningful impact in a New Zealand rest home, and if that doesnt fill your cyborg heart, imagine how youd feel having a nice little cuddle with this soft baby seal. See? Things are looking up already.

Theres nothing glamorous about this robot, but not all heroes wear capes. Greg and Amy Gemmells dairy farm in the Manawatu has three Lely Astronaut 4 robots, which milk the cows whenever the cows feel like it, up to three times during the day or night. The milking shed also has a handy little robot back scratcher for the cows. Total mooood.

One minute you think Cobb & Co couldnt get more exciting, the next a bloody robot is delivering your traffic light cocktail. Not only does BellaBot give out food and drink (shes one of a variety of restaurant robots scattered around the country), but she also sings happy birthday and lets you scratch her little robot ears. Almost as good as a hot bowl of Cobb Crunchies.

Nothing makes people laugh like trying to get through to Air New Zealand at the moment, and Oscar the Chatbot has read the room well. Hes here for the banter and the bookings, and while he might not have a mouth or body, he does have his own captains hat. The sooner they get this little whippersnapper handing out the lollies on the planes, the better.

Ella (Electronic Life Like Assistant) popped up in the Police National Headquarters in 2020 to greet visitors and help with directions. Police did not confirm if Ella would also remind people to always blow on the pie, thus robbing this fine upstanding humanoid of a much higher spot in this ranking.

My main purpose in life is to help people figure out how much they can borrow. And make people chuckle, Alan the Squirrel chatbot says, because nothing makes people cackle more than the state of the housing market. Alan isnt just your regular mortgage-savvy chatbot. He also has several social media accounts (including Tinder, apparently), is fuelled by coffee and pies and promises to tell you a joke if youre having a rough day.

Dominos promised big things in 2016 with Dru, a futuristic pizza delivery robot designed to keep the drinks cold and the pizzas hot. But in news more shocking than a Bill English spaghetti special, it appears Dru is nothing more than a cheese dream. Seven years later, were still yet to see anything on the footpath other than a boring human, even though Dominos says theyre confident Dru will join the corporate family one day soon.

Christchurch Airports love of robots was out of control in 2021, when it introduced two sets of twin robots to the terminals. One set of robots directed passengers to MIQ, while the other set danced with passengers. One can only assume they danced the robot.

Kai is a six foot tall, fully automated store scanning machine who spent 2020 hooning down the aisles of a Rototuna Countdown, looking for empty shelves and floor hazards. It might save hours of work for the human staff, but Kai seems like the loneliest robot in New Zealand. All it does is go up and down, back and forth, looking for the dark, endless voids in life. Sad!

Spot the Robotic Farm Dog was unleashed on a Gisborne farm in 2020, and put the shits right up the sheep for a solid 90 minutes before its battery ran out. Spot looks like it could go rogue and create some terrifying War of the Worlds mayhem its probably only a matter of time until we see Spot causing absolute scenes on an upcoming episode of Country Calendar.

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The workplace robots of New Zealand, ranked and reviewed - The Spinoff

Gender Ideology and the Future of the Human Person – Heritage.org

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Danzig

While gender ideology has emerged only within the past decade as a significant public issue, it has arguably established itself as one of the more controversial and disruptive political questions of modern times. Its impact is hard to overstate, given the multifaceted implications for private spaces such as bathrooms, on sports, on prison housing policy, and even on everyday language, with the preferred pronoun policies to which individuals may be required to conform regardless of religious or philosophical convictions.

Gender ideology refers to a system of belief that holds that there is a difference between sex and gender and to a spectrum of beliefs that practically deny the significance of bodily sex for personal identity. This may take the form of a distinction between sex as biological and gender as a social construct. Alternatively, proponents of gender ideology argue that biological sex is itself a social construct and that gender as a term refers to a psychological reality that is the real core of a persons identity.

Typically, gender ideology is treated as part of the general revolution in sexual identity that has taken place over the past half-century, largely due to its presence in the rainbow alliance of the LGBTQ movement. However, it is actually a function of a far more comprehensive anthropological revolution than the narrow issues of sex and even gender would suggest. It is, at its core, part of a fundamental reimagination of what it means to be human. As such, it should be understood with reference not simply to the sexual revolution, but also to deeper understandings of selfhood, to gender theory, to feminist politics, and to technology. Not all of these influences point in the same direction: The modern notion of selfhood is that of the free, autonomous, self-defining individual; gender theory underscores the power of wider society to shape the social performances that are regarded as constitutive of what it means to be masculine or feminine; feminist politics is divided over the status of the sexed body; and technology has fostered a cultural imagination that sees nature as raw material for doing with as one chooses. When all of these are taken into account, the scale of the challenge gender ideology poses to what it means to be human is clear.

Gender ideology is part of a dramatic transformation in the notion of selfhood that has been underway since at least the eighteenth century. This transformation involves the transfer of authority from the external world to inner psychology. The significance of this is clear from the following comparison of two hypothetical situations.

In 1900, a patient tells his doctor that he, the patient, is a woman trapped in a mans body. The doctor responds that this is clearly a problema problem of the mind, and that any treatment would therefore be for the purpose of bringing the patients psychological convictions into line with the sexed nature of his body. Today, a doctor would most likely respond that this is a problembut now it would be seen as a problem of the body, not of the mind.

The second scenario reflects a world in which inner psychology has become the decisive factor in personal identity. Traditional external identity markers depended upon external realities: location, family, work. Today, identity is far more closely related to internal psychology and to feelings. One need not be transgender to be subject to this. The typical taxonomy of sexual identitygay, lesbian, straight, bisexualcan only exist in a culture in which feelings, in this case sexual desires, are fundamental to an individuals sense of selfhood. And these are examples of a much broader phenomenon of normative selfhood in western culture, that of expressive individualism.REF

According to expressive individualism, the person is constituted by a set of internal feelings. It also places a premium on the notion of personal authenticity, which is achieved when the individual is able to act in public in a manner consistent with those feelings. For the person who feels that he is a woman trapped in a mans body, this means being able to dress and behave according to the social norms for women and even to elect to have medical procedures, from hormone therapy to surgery, to adjust the body to conform more closely to the feminine ideal.

Expressive individualism also affects relationships. Because personal happiness, defined broadly as an inner sense of well-being rooted in authenticity, is the primary imperative of life for the expressive individual, other peopleand indeed other institutionstend to be seen as existing to serve this end. A good example is no-fault divorce, which effectively transforms marriage from a lifelong covenant in which husband and wife have personal responsibilities towards each other and any children they may have into a contract that can be dissolved when the arrangement fails to provide for the emotional needs of one party or the other.

Gender ideology takes to an extreme this tendency to regard external relationships and authorities as existing to serve individual happiness: Even the body can be seen as a problematic alien presence that prevents the individual from being truly happy and fulfilled. Thus, my body is not me in any deep or meaningful sense. Rather it is an instrument by which the real methe psychological entity that dwells within the body, as within a space suitcan be realized and fulfilled. If the body stands in the way, then the body itself must be manipulated to make this realization of myself possible. In fact, the politics of gender ideology, particularly as it is being pressed in the medical sphere, engages in a sleight of hand on this issue, denying the importance of the given body for gender, yet granting gender an essence that, detached from biology, can only be socially constructed. Inner conviction about who I am only exists because of the dialogical relationship of myself as an individual to wider society, the need I have for recognition, and the socially constructed terms by which such recognition is achieved. Thus, the individual experiences gender as a given, as his nature, but the content of that experience is informed by the constructions and expectations of the society in which he lives.

A representative statement that indicates how this way of thinking about selfhood and embodiment has penetrated society is the amicus brief, filed on behalf of over 500 women professional athletes, in the Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization.REF Here is a fascinating example of the way this brief instrumentalizes the body as if the body were a tool of the self rather than an integral part of the self:

Here the body is described as a tool and, indeed, if one were to rewrite the paragraph, substituting carpenter for athlete and saw for body, the point would be clear: These women do not consider their bodies to be essential to who they are but instrumental to what they aspire to be. The very next paragraph reinforces this by asserting a further point:

Here it is notable that natural bodily functionsin this case pregnancy and childbirthare seen as standing in the way of actualizing these athletes full human potential. In short, the body is at best an instrument, at worst a hindrance, to the womens ability to be themselves.

What these athletes present in a nave form in this amicus brief is reflective of the broader manner in which society imagines selfhood: The body plays no integral part in todays understanding of selfhood. Rather, the body is external to who I really am, something worn or inhabited. It is not in the deepest sense who I am. And that, of course, provides a broader cultural and social context in which a phenomenon such as gender ideology is able to assert itself as a plausible option for human identity, severing the sexed physiology of the body from the identity of the person who believes themselves to be somehow inside the body.

Of course, selfhood is a dialogical phenomenon. Our identities are always a construction not simply of our inward feelings but of how those feelings are perceived and acknowledged by others. Thus, for the expressive individual, authenticity cannot terminate simply in the outward performance that gives voice to inward feelings. The outward performance must itself be acknowledged as legitimate by others, ideally by society in general as reflected in societys social practices and law codes. If it is not so acknowledged, if the identity of the performer is not recognized, then the person is accorded no value or legitimacy.

This is a major reason why debates about the laws surrounding gender ideology are so heated. Take bathroom policy, for example. Bathrooms are, obviously, segregated along the lines of biological sex based on physiology. Yet the decision to exclude a trans person from the bathroom of their stated gender is perceived by that person to have been based not upon physiology, but upon the politics of identity. Their stated gender is not being recognized. In other words, they are not being acknowledged as people of value.

Such are the politics of recognition surrounding gender ideology. And these rest upon a psychologized notion of personhood.

Gender/queer theory is a second strand that connects gender ideology to what it means to be human.

In Part One of her influential 1949 book, The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir argues that neither biology, economics, nor psychology are sufficient to account for the differences between men and women. Rather, a deeper cultural approach is necessary. At the beginning of Part Two, she makes the dramatic statement:

In other words, the conceptions of womanhood or femininity are profoundly connected to social expectations. To be a woman is not simply to be somebody who possesses XX chromosomes. Rather, it is a matter of cultural norms and expectations to which women are taught to conform. Hence the claim that to become a woman is to learn to play a role.

On one level, this claim is unexceptionable: Women have played and do play different roles in different cultures. The American construction of femininity may well differ from that of the British or, even more so, Korean or Japanese. There is clearly a significant degree of cultural influence on how the relationship between the sexes is understood. If that were all that Beauvoiror perhaps her successorswere claiming, it would be unassailable. But in making this statement, she also paves the way for a conceptual distinction between biological sex and gender, something that is foundational to the theoretical underpinnings of trans ideology. And this distinction is used in gender/queer theory to do far more than simply highlight differences regarding the construction of femininity and masculinity across cultures. It is used to annihilate wholesale the significance of biological sex to gender identity.

Perhaps the most influential source of such thinking is the American gender/queer theorist, Judith Butler.REF For Butler, gender is a socially constructed performance. Again, this claim in itself might not be particularly radical. Gender as performance has a certain appeal to it because notions of masculinity and femininity do vary across time and space. And most individuals, upon reflection, can probably identify moments when they themselves have deliberately conformed to their cultures gender stereotypes in some way.

If this were all Butler and subsequent gender theorists were claiming, there would be no necessary principal problem with their argument. But, in fact, Butler claims much more. For her, biological differences between men and women do exist, but they are irrelevant to constructions of masculinity and femininity. In an essay on Simone de Beauvoir, she raises the question of how one should address women who do not recognize themselves in societys expectation of what women should be:

The key terms here are essence and enforced cultural option. What Butler is doing is reading gender through a lens provided by the post-structuralism of Michel Foucault, one that denies there are such things as essences and sees all claims to such (indeed, to truth in general) as being part of a cultural regime of power. In other words, the concepts of man and woman are not, as common sense might suggest, categories rooted in biological realities, but rather linguistic concepts that play a role in the overall discourse of power of society at large. Abigail Favale, a Catholic scholar and gender theorist, summarizes Butlers position as follows:

Two things should be noted here. First is the sheer radicalism of what Butler is claiming: Bodies are ultimately irrelevant to individual gender identity. This is the theoretical foundation to our current gender chaos. Put simply, the typical binary of our sexed bodies, whether we are thinking of chromosomes, genitalia, or secondary sex characteristics, is grounded in biology. But if biology is entirely separable from genderif gender is performance, not essencethen there can be as many genders as performances. Hence, gender theory is really just a species of queer theory, in which all categories are essentially destabilized. If gender does not exist in the body but only in the mind, in the feelings, then it inevitably becomes a fluid thing that can only be given some kind of communicable or consistent content with reference to performance and conformity to socially constructed gender norms. Advocates for public policies and medical treatments connected to gender ideology might wish to speak of such feelings in essentialist terms grounding their apparent reality, but that is just rhetorical sloppiness, covering the profound anti-essentialism of their position.REF

Second, we can see how gender theory gains plausibility in a world in which the normative notion of selfhood is that of the expressive individual. For the expressive individual, the tendency is to see the body as a tool or an instrument for realizing the self that dwells within it. The women athletes amicus brief in Dobbs gives ample testimony to this culturally dominant intuition. Gender theory differs at a theoretical level from expressive individualism because the self is an imposed construction of the powers at play in the wider culture; but it is analogous to it in its discounting of the importance of the physical body as having an essence that is constitutive of who we are. We might put it this way: A world that we experience as expressive individuals is one in which we might well find plausible and even attractive the arguments of Butler and company relative to discourses of power regarding the importance of the body for identity. This is why so many today are squeamish about defining what it means to be a woman or denying that somebody with the body of a woman can be a man. Expressive individualist culture, like the post-structuralism behind Butlers work, is suspicious of talk that might deny someone the right to self-identify on the grounds that this would be an unjust imposition of power and a negation of the individual. Thus, gender ideology becomes plausible, or at least very hard to oppose.

If gender/queer theory offers a philosophical rationale for gender ideology, so does the closely related phenomenon of cyborg feminism. While Butler and company draw their strength from Beauvoir by way of streams of continental philosophy associated with figures such as Michel Foucault and Jacques Lacan, cyborg feminism originally takes its cue from a more Marxist reading of Beauvoir, particularly focusing on the ways in which technology might be used to collapse the sex binary.

Marx and Engels noted the potential of technology, in the form of industrial automation, to attenuate the differences between men and women in The Communist Manifesto:

While they were thinking in terms of the division of labor, by the early 1970s the radical feminist thinker Shulamith Firestone saw that technology could also be used to transcend even the most fundamental biological difference in function between men and women, that of their respective roles in procreation. In her call for feminist revolution, The Dialectic of Sexa book she dedicated to Beauvoirshe declares:

Written in 1970, before the advent even of in vitro fertilization (IVF), this is a remarkably prescient passage. It also points to yet another element of modern society that has served to make gender ideology plausible by (once again) downgrading the authority of physical embodiment to identify what it means to be human. Specifically, this will be done by eliminating the key difference between men and women in the division of reproductive and family-based labor.

Firestones vision was picked up by Donna Haraway in the 1980s in her important work of feminist theory, A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century.REF In this work, she argues that technology would prove a potent means of reconstructing social relations and of liberating women from traditional gender stereotypes. For example:

In plain English, Haraway is arguing that technology is a key determinant of who we are and, as it changes, so what it means to be a man or a woman (or indeed a human) changes, too. As with Butlers argument about gender as performance, there is a certain truth to this. Technology does transform the way in which we think about ourselves and the way we experience being selves within the world.

The cyborg legacy of Firestone and Haraway has been developed in recent years by American feminist Sophie Lewis, who has focused her work on the implications of artificial reproduction and surrogacy on the nature of the family.REF As Firestone and (to an extent) Haraway could only speculate about the nature of the technological future, Lewis writes in a context in which technology has made IVF, gay adoption, and surrogacy actual realities. The division of labor regarding reproduction (and thus between male and female) may not have been fully abolished, but it has been profoundly transformed in a manner that has dethroned natural malefemale intercourse as the only means by which it can be achieved.

While the target of cyborg feminism is the alleged oppression essential to the capitalist system, its significance for gender ideology is the way it highlights the role of technology in how society constructs gender roles and relations, and how technology makes gender ideology more plausible. In other words, the more technologically advanced society becomes, the more that technology shapes our imaginations, the more plausible gender ideology becomes. It is easier to find gender ideology plausible in a world in which technology has attenuated or broken down the difference in social roles between men and women than one in which such technology is not available. In an extreme form, we might say that gender ideology is only imaginable in a world in which hormone therapies and plastic surgery allow us to believe that the given sexed nature of our bodies is something that can be overcome or transformed. And with cyborg feminism, it is clear that the transgender issue is easy to co-opt to the general political narrative that heteronormative male oppression must be overthrown.

If cyborg feminism sees technology as critical to dismantling the differences between the sexes, then this points to one further movement that is important in understanding the significance of gender ideology: transhumanism.

While the term was originally coined by Julian Huxley in a 1957 essay of the same name, transhumanism is a developing collection of movements and ideas. Max More provides a working definition of its basic core:

The posthuman here is a reference to what human beings could be, or could evolve into, when traits and limitations deemed undesirable or problematic have been eliminated. Examples might include the weakening of the body associated with aging, mortality, factors that limit strength or intelligence, or genes that make us vulnerable to certain illnesses. Technology is the means by which this would be achieved, as is made clear by the World Transhumanist Associations official manifesto.REF

That Huxley was an advocate of eugenics should be no surprise. Clearly there is a close analogy between the underlying philosophies of eugenics and transhumanism, predicated as they are on the hope that the human race can be improved. But transhumanism also has clear connections to gender ideology: the notion that the physical constitution of the human body imposes limits upon the individual that can and should be transcended; and the idea that this is possible because technology effectively turns bodies into raw material, a kind of animated playdough, over which the human will can impose itself through technology.

A good example of this is Martine Rothblatts From Transgender to Transhuman: A Manifesto on the Freedom of Form.REF Rothblatt, a biological male who presents as a woman and who founded both Sirius Satellite Radio and a biotech company, United Therapeutics, argues that biologically sexed bodies are irrelevant to true identity and that technology will demonstrate this. Rothblatt purports to demonstrate how technology is the moving force behind liberating people from oppressive male or female sexual identities.REF Rothblatt also claims that transhumanism arises from the groins of gender ideology. As reasoning beings, we must welcome this further transcendence of arbitrary biology, and embrace in solidarity all conscious life.REF Whether this claim is historically accurate is irrelevant to my point here. It is the juxtaposition of gender ideology and transhumanism that is telling: Technology and the cultural imagination that it engenders in society are critical to the ambition of both to overcome the restrictive limitations of natural embodiment.

Consider the various phenomena outlined above. We now live in a culture in which expressive individualism is the normative and intuitive sense of self, gender and queer theory play a significant role in the thinking of cultural elites, and cyborg feminism views technology as an instrument of liberation from the politics of the sex binary while transhumanism regards it as fulfilling an analogous function with the general limitations of embodiment. In this context, it becomes clear that gender ideology is not an isolated phenomenon, but one element of a general anthropological shift taking place in modern society.

These different movements are not necessarily philosophically compatible. For example, the assumption of psychological autonomy that underpins expressive individualism is antithetical to post-structuralist claims that the individual self is rather the product of the discourses of power that permeate society. Yet all these movements serve to reinforce each other because they all point toward the same conclusion regarding human nature: It has no given essence and therefore cannot be understood with reference to any kind of biological determinism. As Rothblatt declares, Nothing in biology requires people with vaginas to behave in one manner and people with penises in another.REF Note that Rothblatt can make this statement without really offering any significant argument, or without taking into account some obvious factsparticularly the difference in behavior that is required from men and women in matters of reproduction. This reveals how deeply the rejection of the importance of bodily difference, the affirmation of the power of technology, and the blithe confidence in human power have permeated our culture.

The transgender question is therefore one symptom of a much deeper and more pervasive anti-essentialism. Therefore, the question of the future of humanity would remain even if, for example, the transgender moment proves to be little more than a fad. The underlying causea collapse in belief in human naturewould not vanish simply because society comes to see gender ideology as an excess.

In fact, this anti-essentialism is central to the most pressing ethical questions of our day. Medical ethics, for example, is traditionally shaped by notions of medicine as reparative and restorative. This assumed that a normative notion of what it meant to be human could be identified and medicine could be applied to restore or repair that which was damaged or impaired. Once the notion of what it means to be human is abolishedor, perhaps more pointedly, once the very concept of normative humanity is seen as a problemmedical ethics is determined by what desires it is possible to realize. At that point, it likely becomes a function of what the technological managerial class deems appropriate.

The rejection of biologically grounded sexuality also has obvious implications for broader social policy. If there is no such thing as human nature, there can be no such thing as a common purpose or common good. Any claim to such would be read as a manipulative power play, an attempt by one group to control another. Neither human rights nor human obligations would have any natural status. The notion of society as constituted by nothing more than contractual relationships would be reinforced and philosophically irresistible. And in practical terms this would shift power towards the state or to large corporations as the only institutions capable of enforcing some kind of social order.

Finally, personal identity would be plunged into chaos. If the question What is a woman? is proving so hard for so many to answer today, it is because the question What is a human? has become impossible to answer, too. That is likely one major factor in the rising levels of anxiety we are witnessing in affluent societies today. When all external markers for stable identity are removedeven those provided by the physical sexed constitution of our own bodiesthen the question of who exactly we are as individuals becomes both intensely urgent and impossible to answer.

Carl R. Trueman, PhD, is Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Grove City College.

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Gender Ideology and the Future of the Human Person - Heritage.org

Problem Gambling Awareness Month highlights help for gambling … – Louisiana Department of Health – Louisiana.gov

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Danzig

Americans are expected to wager $3 billion on the NCAA March Madness mens basketball tournament in 2023. With sports betting legal in Louisiana since January 2022, the Louisiana Department of Healths (LDH) Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) reminds Louisianans to have a solid game plan before gambling.

Now in its 20th year, Problem Gambling Awareness Month coincides with March Madness as an opportunity to raise awareness of problem gambling, which includes all gambling behavior patterns that compromise, disrupt or damage personal, family or vocational pursuits. The month-long observance also promotes awareness of the resources available to those experiencing problems associated with gambling.

The Office of Behavioral Health is committed to raising public awareness about what problem gambling is and the resources available to get help, said OBH Assistant Secretary Karen Stubbs. Before you gamble, get your game plan ready: Set a budget; know your limits; use licensed, regulated operators; and bet responsibly. If you or someone you know needs help, confidential gambling treatment is free and available 365 days a year to Louisiana residents.

Governor John Bel Edwards has also proclaimed March as Problem Gambling Awareness Month (PGAM) in Louisiana, in collaboration with the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG).

While most adults view gambling as entertainment, all should know that risks are involved. Sports bettors are at particularly high risk for developing a gambling problem. According to the National Survey on Gambling Attitudes and Gambling Experiences 2.0, 4 out of 5 sports bettors reported they often needed to gamble more for the same feeling of excitement.

It is estimated that approximately 2 million U.S. adults (1% of the population) meet criteria for severe problem gambling and another 4 to 6 million (2-3%) for mild or moderate, according to Mayo Clinic. The rates are higher in Louisiana, where 2.9% of Louisiana residents meet severe problem gambling criteria and another 5.4% of residents may have a gambling problem, according to a 2016 study conducted by OBH.

Call or text the Louisiana Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-877-770-STOP (7867) if you or someone you know has a gambling problem. For more information about problem gambling, go to ldh.la.gov/ProblemGambling.

Problem Gambling Awareness Month highlights help for gambling ... - Louisiana Department of Health - Louisiana.gov

Tiny Nicks Gambling Picks: 03/22 – Zone Coverage

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Danzig

Locks

NBA (0.5 Unit) Minnesota Timberwolves/Atlanta Hawks Over 241 (-110; Odds via Caesars): 7:00 PM CT on Bally Sports North

Not only do we get to see two fast-paced offenses here, we get to see the return of Karl-Anthony Towns tonight. If Anthony Edwards somehow plays through his ankle injury we could see the Wolves full roster for the first time since November. And on the other side we have a Hawks team that has averaged 244.4 points per game since the firing of former coach Nate McMillan.

In addition, we saw these two teams combine for 251 points just last week so I expect that pace to pick up where they left off in a shootout with minimal defense tonight. Atlanta is on a back-to-back here with travel, making a team already not interested in defense even less likely to try on that end of the floor. Lets hope the return of KAT boosts Minnesotas offense, they pick up where they left off in the Knicks win, and we see plenty of points here.

NBA (0.5 Unit) Joel Embiid Over 32.5 Points (-110; Odds via Caesars): 7:00 PM CT on NBA League Pass

Its that time of the year again, where Joel Embiid knows he needs to put the finishing touches on his MVP campaign to avoid finishing second again. In the month of March alone, Embiid has gone over this number in 8 of 10 games and is averaging over 36 PPG. Weve seen how much Embiid dominates Nikola Vucevic in the past and after Mondays upset loss to the Bulls, Embiid and the Sixers will be even more motivated here. That should create another high-scoring game from the odds-on favorite for this years MVP.

NBA (0.5 Unit) LA Lakers +1 Vs Phoenix Suns (-110; Odds via Caesars): 9 PM CT on ESPN

I feel as though the wrong team is favored here with these teams current situations. Since the Kevin Durant trade the Suns have been short-handed pretty much every game, and today will be no different without Durant or Deandre Ayton. The Suns are 0-5 ATS in the 5 games since they learned Durant would miss extended time. With no Ayton or Durant here, Anthony Davis should be able to have a field day inside against the thin Suns frontcourt. This Lakers team has been rejuvenated since adding much of the Wolves play in champions team from last year, and I see that momentum carrying over to tonight in what should be a Lakers win.

Degenerates

No degenerates today.

Tiny Nick is 1162-1009 ATS (+74 Units) on his Locks since joining Zone Coverage.

Every day he will offer his Locks and Degenerate picks. Locks are the games hes confident in. Degenerates are entertaining but riskier picks.

See the rest here:

Tiny Nicks Gambling Picks: 03/22 - Zone Coverage

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